


Warmth

by schrijverr



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Crew as Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Hugs, the toy soldier deserves all the love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 05:20:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26467849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schrijverr/pseuds/schrijverr
Summary: The Toy Soldier gets some love from all the Mechs.
Relationships: The Toy Soldier & Everyone
Comments: 14
Kudos: 89





	Warmth

**Author's Note:**

> You can also find this work on my tumblr, which is @schrijverr as well. Hope you pop in and say hi, cause I'd love to talk to y'all!

Contrary to what they tried to project on stage, The Toy Soldier was one of the most important members of the crew and although it was never said everyone tried to make it feel happy and loved in their own little emotionally constipated way.

It had been confused about it for a while, but Marius was always ready to explain people things to it that it didn’t understand, so when it asked why no one wanted it there Marius had sighed and said: “They’re not the best at it, but they do love you, just watch. And if you ever doubt it you can come to me, I’m not as emotionally constipated.”

Then Marius had given it a hug and although The Toy Soldier did not know what warmth felt like it, it thought it would feel like Marius’s hug.

After that it paid closer attention and it noticed the little things that made it painted on smile all the more real, no need for pretending at all.

It noticed how Nastya would always ask it if it needed tuning up whenever they’d had a good fight or if she’d done maintenance on Aurora. 

She tried to be casual about it, but when it had thought more closely about it realized it was her way of making sure it was alright and it could see her eye it carefully always making sure it was comfortable when it did need help.

And Tim made sure that the door would always be open, even if he claimed otherwise when Jonny asked him and he made sure none of the important clockwork would be hit if they had a little spat, just like he didn’t aim for Jonnys or Brians heart, Ashes lungs or Ivys head.

Brian was a good ol’ chap, who never minded The Toy Soldiers tea and always smiled whenever it came up to the helm to sit with him as he steered the Aurora, who discussed the philosophies of being real with it, never telling it was naive or didn’t get it.

Ashes was a bit harder to figure out, but it had realized that they were always careful with their pyromaniac tendencies and made sure The Toy Soldier never got burned ever since it had mentioned once that it thought burning was a very unpleasant sensation and not how it though warmth felt like at all.

Ivy was usually by herself, but she asked it at regular intervals to help her in the library and when it had asked Marius about it, he had explained that was her way of spending time with it without having to ask for it, since she liked its company. 

After that The Toy Soldier always agreed with a seemly bigger smile than had been painted on and made sure to keep up a constant chatter when it helped, catching her little smiles out of the corner of its eyes.

It liked helping Raphaella a lot, she was always careful as she tried to figure out how it ticked and at the end she gave it a little peck on its forehead, sometimes leaving a lipstick mark that The Toy Soldier was careful not to wash of for a few days.

Jonny was more difficult to figure out, it had tried really hard and had been almost convinced Jonny really didn’t like it when it had figured it out. Jonny was the meanest to the people he loved most, it was how he expressed affection and no matter how many comments he made about The Toy Soldier, he always tried to get a song with it on every album. He always smiled so much whenever they sang together and The Toy Soldier loved that.

And so the Mechanisms lived, but then Ivy, Marius and Raphaella disappeared to some planet to wreak havoc and with them missing it wasn’t the same, so The Toy Soldier decided to go out again. It knew it would come back, they all did, but it just wanted to explore a bit on its own.

At first no one really cared, everyone left every now and again and The Toy Soldier wasn’t the only crew member missing anyway.

But then Ivy, Marius and Raphaella came back with a story to tell, but The Toy Soldier wasn’t there. They tried to wait for it, but it wouldn’t return and they started to get worried about it. With heavy hearts they made the album without it, but it wasn’t the same.

The album was still good of course, but the practices didn’t have tea and uneatable cookies. There was no encouragement and overly polite but genuine excitement, there was a Toy Soldier shaped hole.

From planet to planet they went with their new show, but they still missed the cheery wooden soldier that had filled such a large gap in their lives, always there, always making them smile.

It was because this hole that they almost didn’t believe it when they heard a chipper voice call out after a concert: “Friends! I Am So Happy To See You All Again, Oh This Is Such A Joyful Occasion!”

Slowly they turned and there a smiling Toy Soldier stood, waving and excited. Marius and Raphaella didn’t care about what the others thought, they put their instruments down and ran enveloping it in a big hug.

“Thank You, My Dear Chaps, I Missed You As Well.” The Toy Soldier hugged them back, “I Wanted To See This Planet, But They Do Not Have Interstellar Travel And I Got Stuck.”

“Glad to have you back, Toy Soldier.” Marius smiled, looking it in the eyes before hugging it again.

They led it back onto the Aurora while they chattered among themselves. It noted that no one grumbled about letting it back in and that every one send it small happy glances from time to time as if they were checking it was still there.

Back on the ship they didn’t retreat back to their rooms instead choosing to drop down on the couches in one of the communal areas and asked The Toy Soldier about its adventures while they leaned back and listened.

Nothing of real importance happened, but it was happy to babble on, only interrupting itself to make everyone some tea, not missing how there were zero complaints about it not being alcohol.

It also listened closely, happy to be with its friends again, as they told it about the Yggdrasil system and the time Ivy, Marius and Raphaella had spend in a prison annoying a poor inspector, who probably didn’t deserve it.

But the adrenaline of finding each other again and of the concert wore off and soon everyone was trying to speak through the yawns. The Toy Soldier clapped in its hand and said: “You Are All Tired, You Need Sleep. I Hope You All Will Get Sufficient Rest So That We Can Talk Again Tomorrow, I Missed Talking To You.”

Ivy had the most common sense of them all, so she stood up and stretched. Before she left, however, she gave The Toy Soldier a hug and said: “I missed you too, it’s good to have you back.”

Then she left. Nastya followed her example also hugging it, while she said: “Me and Aurora are happy to see you again, TS.”

Brian only petted its head as he told it how much he’d missed it. The Toy Soldier knew how Brian could be about touch, so he just beamed at him and returned the sentiment.

Marius gathered it into a big bear-hug, swaying it from side to side while its feet dangled slightly above the ground while Raphaella gave it a kiss on its forehead before she left. It was sure the lipstick mark was there again, it had missed that.

“Don’t stay away for so long again, okay.” Ashes told it after they’d given it a kiss on the cheek.

Tim put his hands on its shoulders and stared into its eyes for a long second, then he smiled and said: “Just as I remember.” and hugged it, before he wished it a good night.

Then it was just it and Jonny in the room. 

Jonny hesitated for a second, shifting his weight for foot to foot as the silence dragged on. The Toy Soldier didn’t really know how to act, since a situation like this had never come up, so it hadn’t thought about how to react.

Luckily Jonny seemed to have made a decision, because he walked up to The Toy Soldier and pulled it into a hug and held on tight for a while. The Toy Soldier hugged him back and waited for Jonny to let go until it did they same, it liked hugs and Jonny was good at them.

His eyes was wet and his voice was thicker then usual as he said: “We missed you, we don’t mean it when we joke about not wanting you here, don’t leave again, okay? And don’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”

“Of Course, Old Sport.” The Toy Soldier smiled and gave Jonny a salute.

Jonny grinned back and told it: “You’re an idiot.”

Then he also retreated leaving it feeling its own interpretation of warm inside, happy to be back home.

**Author's Note:**

> I know Nastya technically wasn't there with TBI, but I have blocked that from memory
> 
> Kudos and Comments make my day, so thank you so much for leaving them if you did :D <3


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